Finance made simple

Wal-mart grocery free pickup

Let me begin by stating that I am not affiliated with Wal-mart in any way.

Grocery shopping. Some people love it, others hate it. Food is probably one of the top budget categories that we all have trouble sticking to. Entertainment would be my second choice.

So today I am going to talk about doing grocery shopping online through Wal-mart. Now if you read my ebook A Penny at a Time, you will know I love Aldi. So even though many a friend told me about this new service Wal-mart was offering, I dug in my heels and fought against trying it. What can I say, I am stubborn and frugal, who knows where that comes from…cough cough (Dadd). I know Aldi is cheaper. I work hard for my money why would I want to try a service I know I will be paying more for?

But for some unknown reason, I finally decided to give it a shot. And to my surprise I loved it.

So here are Pro’s and Con’s to doing the online grocery order.

Pro’s

Time- it’s quicker, pick up has taken me no more than about 5 mins. I can shop at whatever time, in the comfort of my home in my pj’s.

Weather- When it’s freezing outside, like it was last week I, I just stay in my warm car and the food gets loaded in.

Wal-mart makes it easier to make sure you are staying on budget. Every item you place in your cart tallies up at the side. So you constantly see your total. That way you know if you need to put stuff back or can add more, instead of being surprised at the check out. (At Aldi I do this with a pen and paper, but it is more work)

Impulse buys – You don’t have them. You aren’t seeing everything in the store, (Unless you are searching for it). So I don’t walk by the clothing and say…hmm these t-shirts are a great price and throw them in, messing my budget up.

I eat slightly healthier -I am not picking up that candy bar or two while I am waiting for the checkout line to move. Or the bottle of water as I wait realizing how thirsty I am.

I don’t have to remember my bags or my quarter.

Con’s

As far as my experience goes Aldi prices are still overall cheaper than Wal-mart. So I am paying more product wise.

So for me when I am in a hurry or lazy I will be using Wal-mart. When I have the time to manually add up everything in my shopping cart to ensure I am staying on budget, then I will go to aldi. Find what works for you. Which method will help you to better stay on track financially.